Women’s Basketball: Staying positive down the stretch

“My goal every day is to make sure we get into our team culture,” Coach Burt said, discussing the final leg of the season. “It’s hard to come in and work hard all the time, but we have to ‘win’ every practice and have no regrets.”

Even though their record may not show many positive signs at 9-11, the Union girls basketball team strongly believes that it is starting to hit its ‘team culture’ in stride.

With four games remaining this season, Union is optimistic that it can bring a playoff push.

This past weekend Union split a pair of games. Against Bard College, 1-18, the Dutchwomen had a dominating game, winning 68-15 on Friday night.

Sophomore Kristin Schmidt led the team with 16 points, scoring 8-8 in field goals, 10 rebounds and two blocks. The team showed consistency throughout the game, shooting 56 percent from the field.

The following night Union was hoping to bring the positive energy and momentum from this impressive win to Vassar College, a team that it had lost a nail biter against.

With a competitive first half that included four ties and six lead changes, Union and Vassar were again neck and neck.

Down 27-23 going into the second half, Union tried to battle against the string of runs that Vassar put up.

However, sophomore Britney Kenney’s double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the rest of the team’s effort was not enough, as they lost 63-53.

With a relatively inexperienced roster, 12 underclassman as compared to just three upperclassman, the Dutchwomen understand that consistency in the final stretch will be something that is harder to find as compared to more experienced teams.

However, with the developed chemistry and the great vocal leadership by captains Rachel Beaulac ‘12, Mary Donohue ‘12 and Shayla Madden ‘13, the team is still confident they will make the right decisions down the stretch to pull out much needed victories.

“For my final season, I want us to finish on a high rather than a low,” said Donohue ‘12. “I want us to continue to work hard and win every game from here on out.”